Turning point
by K' Korrane
Summary: During the mission to retrieve Sasuke, the Konoha group bring back someone else and a certain someone starts to grow attached to her. Rated M for language and possible lemon scent.
1. Prologue chapter: The end!

Turning point: Prologue chapter

:The end?!:

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This was a joke, it had to be. This girl shouldn't be here. So what if Konoha had forgiven Suna, this was way too soon to be trusting them as reinforcements. Tayuya had been so close to ending that cocky spiky headed idiot's life, now that the sand girl was here it was two against one, she'd have to rethink her approach.

As she looked down at the pair from the branch she was now standing on; once she'd regained her balance from the blast of wind earlier, her mind began to race. She'd already been forced into second state by this Chuunin kid, she'd already made him realize she could forcibly break out of his jutsu and he was pretty much out of chakra. This was the perfect time to end it, but now that stupid sand bitch had arrived.

"I heard we made up with the traitors from the land of sand."

The spiky haired kid said after a few seconds. He wasn't paying attention to Tayuya anymore which was definitely a mistake, but she decided to let him have his say for now. After all, they'd both be dead soon.

"But I didn't think you guys would flip sides this fast." He finished.

Without even turning around to face him, the blonde girl replied.

"It's not like we wanted to raid Konoha, it was just orders."

She turned her head slightly to look back at him.

"The same way I was ordered here."

Tayuya swore she saw a look of relief on the boy's face after hearing that, she thought to herself.

 _"Heh, stupid kid, I'll make him suffer after I'm done with her."_

As the blonde looked back to Tayuya, she spoke again.

"By the way..." She paused slightly before continuing. "Are you getting dumber by the minute?"

She asked him, as she turned her head by the tiniest amount and smiled at him. Tayuya could only think of one thing by now, and that was to make this bitch pay for being so smug. When at that point the girl turned to face her once again and asked the boy, the same smile crossing her face.

"So, you wanna pull out again? I can take care of her, you know"

Now all Tayuya's mind was focused on was how many ways she had to make this girl scream and writhe in as much pain as possible, she wasn't even listening to the conversation anymore. But as furious as she was, she decided to play it cool. She couldn't let them know she was getting this worked up. Once she was sure the two had stopped talking, she decided to make herself known so she could get started.

"You guys sure keep busy, switching sides all the time!"

As she spoke she slowly raised her flute to her dark brown lips.

"So now you're with Konoha?!"

Both her enemies were now focused on her and the spiky haired kid looked pretty worried.

"That flute."

He said quickly.

"It's how she wields Genjutsu."

Again the blonde girl didn't move her eyes from her opponent.

"Duh!" She snapped back to him. Despite them being on opposite sides, Tayuya had to give the sand bitch points. That was pretty obvious.

Taking a deep breath, the redhead concentrated her chakra and began to play her melody.

 _"Once I get them in my Genjutsu."_ She thought to herself. _"They're finished."_

As the musical technique drifted closer to her opponents' ears, the sand girl raised her giant paper fan behind her before swinging it back towards Tayuya with enough force to create a gale force wind. As she did this, she shouted out.

"Wind Scythe Jutsu!"

Tayuya stopped playing. Looking up at the almost visible wind she realized that it wasn't just blowing trees down, it was cutting them in half. She barely had time to react before the gale was upon her, jumping back in retreat she failed to notice a part of her flute being sliced off by a stray blade of wind. She could hear the pair talking behind her as she moved to a safer distance but she didn't care anymore, she had to finish this now.

As Tayuya reached a point that was just out of earshot she checked her own body for signs of injury or damage, surprisingly after a technique like that her clothes were perfectly intact. She had one or two slight scratches on her face and her flute had been cut, but other than that she was fine. As she raised her head, she brushed the stray length of dark red hair from in front of her bright yellow eyes and backed herself up against the tree she was now standing on. Gripping her broken flute she cursed under her breath, adamant she was going to make them both pay for pushing her this far. She looked back at the pair who were still talking, scowling at them from her hiding spot she thought to herself.

 _"This wench is going to be a pain in the neck!"_

It occurred to her suddenly that if she didn't move to a different spot then she'd easily be located and attacked again, so she spent a few minutes moving around as quickly and quietly as she could. She could still just hear the pair talking but gave more priority to getting to a safe spot than listening in. After a few more minutes she was ready to strike back, it would be more difficult to effectively play a flute that had been cut but she could manage. As she brought the little metal instrument back up to her lips, she confirmed her plan in her head.

 _"All right , far enough. Let the Genjutsu begin."_

Just as she had taken another deep breath, she heard the distinct sound of wood being cut behind her.

"What?!"

Before she was able to look back at the noise; her feet were suddenly swept out from beneath her, as the massive second wind breezed through the forest like it was nothing.

Tayuya's mind raced again, what had just happened? She had been fine, she'd heard trees being cut and now she was flying through the air helplessly. The invisible blades slashing and tearing at her clothes and flesh, she looked ahead of her to see a large branch racing towards her before it broke over her head sending her flying backwards. This time it was a more brutal experience, landing hard on her back across another branch; followed by what felt like half the forest on top of her. Tayuya's body was in more pain than she had ever experienced, she could no longer feel her legs. The only things she had left were agony and anger, the huge logs that were now crushing her abdomen feeling heavier by the second.

More thoughts rushed through her head.

 _"N-no... this can't be happening, I'm too young to go out like this! I won't let that stupid bitch get away with this! I'll get out of here and I'll-"_

She was cut off from her thoughts by the feeling of her own blood trickling over her face from her mouth. As her body began to go numb her curse mark receded, her skin returned to it's pale fleshy color and her eyes changed back to their original chestnut brown, her hair shrunk back to it's shoulder length and the crown- like formation of horns retracted back into her head.

As Tayuya's eyes closed and her consciousness began to slip away, she could hear the faint voices of the pair of shinobi about a hundred meters away. She could hear the blonde ninja with her smug voice.

"See? All over."

Even from this distance without looking Tayuya could tell she was still grinning.

 _"I'm gonna kill that cocky, blonde bitch!"_

She could no longer control her body. Her eyelids were heavy, her eyes flickered shut.

 _"Sh- shit..."_

Her last thought drifted through her head as her world faded to black.

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AN: So here's the start of Turning point, this is just to get things started so expect to see more in the near future ^_^


	2. Chapter 1: Awakening

Turning point: Chapter 1

:Awakening:

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Beep... Beep... Beep...

"Unnghh.. Where.. am I?"

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Heavy eyes slowly opened and glanced around, a plain white ceiling directly ahead. To the left, a bedside table with a jug of water and a glass resting on it with a plain, white door just behind that. The right, a wall right next to the bed with a window, though at this angle the only thing that could be seen was the sky.

"I'm... in bed? Where?"

Tayuya managed to lift her head and arms enough to try and sit up, but was quickly stopped by the fierce pain that shot through her stomach. She flinched and dropped back to her laying position, the force of the sudden feeling causing her to breath heavily for a few seconds. She again decided to look around the room, above her head was some kind of apparatus attached to the wall that was monitoring her heart rate and blood pressure.

"Hospital... I'm in a hospital..."

She forced her head up to look down to the foot of her bed, a chair rested against the far wall with what looked like a big piece of varnished, black wood propped up beside it.

"What.. is that?"

Tayuya tried to angle her head to get a better view of the object, but stopped as she heard the sound of footsteps nearing her room. She looked over at the door and quickly lay back down, closing her eyes and simply listening as the footsteps came closer. A few seconds later her door was pushed open and the footsteps entered the room, they moved over to her bed and a warm hand pressed gently to her bandaged forehead. Admittedly she kinda liked this feeling, she hadn't been touched like this since she was a little girl. The hand soon removed itself and the sounds of a pen on a clip board followed, Tayuya slowly and very slightly opened one eye. Looking up at the person beside her bed, it was a woman, this much was very clear from the huge chest that protruded out above her. That alone was enough to cover her face from this angle but the clip board in the woman's hands made it impossible to identify her.

After taking a few notes the woman moved to check Tayuya again. The redhead had already shut her eye again and continued to fake sleep while this person, presumably a doctor, lowered her bed covers and checked her body. Gently touching several spots that caused Tayuya to flinch, but not utter a sound. A few more minutes and the examination was done, the woman covered her back up and wrote down a few more notes before putting her pen away and exiting the room with the sound of her door closing.

Tayuya opened her eyes again, still feeling the sore spots the woman had touched. She had stopped outside the door to talk to someone, Tayuya couldn't make much of it out but listened idly as she looked up at the sky outside the window. Outside the door, the conversation seemed to end as the other person neared the door and grasped the handle, this person finished the conversation as the first woman walked away.

"Thank you lady Hokage."

Had she not been faking sleep Tayuya's eyes would have been wide open, those last few words shot through her mind like a bullet.

"Hokage? HOKAGE?! I'm in the fucking leaf?! What the hell happened? Was I captured?" Before she could think about much more, her door opened and the second person entered.

Tayuya kept still, her only movements being her rising chest as she breathed. The person in her room closed the door behind them self and steadily made their way to the bed. Tayuya could feel the person's eyes looking over her body, the feeling to her was like an animal watches it's prey. As the person drew closer, Tayuya's heart began to speed up. Considering she was a ninja, she wasn't great at hiding her emotions as evidenced by her usual outbursts of anger. The new visitor seemed to notice this, as the beeping on the heart monitor also sped up. After what sounded like a scoff, the person spoke.

"Heh, I guess you can feel me near you. They said you wouldn't wake up for a while, but I think you look a lot calmer when you're sleeping."

This voice, Tayuya recognized this voice, she had heard it before, but where? She didn't get time to think about it as the girl by her bed leaned down.

"I wonder if I kissed you, you'd wake up a princess?"

Tayuya's heart began to race, her face flushed red, she felt the girl's breath over her face and suddenly; her eyes snapped open to meet her visitor's. Chestnut eyes meeting deep blue as the girl above her yelped in surprise and jumped back. Tayuya took one look at the girl, sandy blonde hair tied into quad-tails, a pale blue outfit with a red sash and a Suna headband tied around her neck. Tayuya's expression changed into a glare of fury as she looked over at the girl that had nearly killed her.

"YOU!"


	3. Chapter 2: Remorse

Turning point: Chapter 2

:Remorse:

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Anger and immense pain, those were Tayuya's next feelings as she instinctively rose to lunge at the Suna kunoichi in front of her. A movement she very much regretted soon after as the pain in her lower half caused her to keel over and fall from her bed, the hard floor below causing her to actually cry out in pain as she hit it hard. The redhead grasped at her stomach and writhed in agony, gritting her teeth now and then to try and stop herself from screaming. The Suna girl had already called for a doctor from the door by this point and was trying to straighten Tayuya's body out, efforts which were met with flailing arms as the squirming teen angrily signaled that she didn't want help. A minute later and a pair of nurses rushed into the room and tried to calm their patient down. After a few futile efforts, one of them managed to hold the girl's arm down long enough to sedate her and thirty seconds later she was sound asleep.

Beep... Beep... Beep...

Tayuya's eyes fluttered open, the sound of her heart on the monitor dominating the silence in the room. She looked around, expecting to see the same sights as before. But instead, the bedside table that had been on her left had been moved and the chair from the other side of the room now stood in it's place. Upon that, the Suna girl was sat. She was asleep, her head tilted to the side but her body sitting surprisingly straight in the chair. Tayuya suspected she must sleep like this a lot. She looked down at her own body. Since her little outburst earlier; the nurses seemed to have strapped her arms to the bed, presumably to stop her from further injuring herself. With nothing to do and no way to move, Tayuya simply lay her head back and listened to the sounds around her. The heart monitor was the loudest, being the closest sound in the room just above her head. The faint singing of the birds outside, a few people down the hall who seemed to be talking about towels; she could only hear that much through the open door. But the most calming sound she could hear, much to her surprise, was the gentle breathing of the girl beside her bed. She seemed to notice that sound above all the others, like a slow, smooth melody to her. Tayuya closed her eyes and listened to that sound until she drifted off again.

What seemed like only moments later, Tayuya opened her eyes again and was greeted by a conversation in her room. She turned her head to see the Suna girl with her back turned to the bed, talking with the doctor from before. This time her face was visible. She was a very good looking woman, her long blonde hair framing her face nicely. She looked to be in her late twenties, the dark blue diamond shape on her forehead was an odd choice of tattoo in Tayuya's opinion. But her most defining feature was definitely her almost unnecessarily large chest, being somewhat larger than her head. Tayuya only caught the end of the conversation once she started listening.

"Just make sure she's ready for interrogation, I'll make sure she isn't harmed if you can make her talk before..."

The doctor looked over at the bed and noticed Tayuya watching them, she smiled as she spoke again.

"Well, look who's up. I'll leave you to talk to her, just call me if she tries anything."

With that, the busty doctor turned and left the room, leaving the Suna girl to walk back to her chair and quietly sit down.

Tayuya simply watched the girl as she seemed lost in thought for a good ten minutes until she decided to break the silence herself.

"Why did you bring me here?"

Her voice was weak and cracked, but the attitude applied with it was more than enough to get the girl's attention. She looked up with an expression that made her look like someone just asked her the meaning of life. Not understanding the confusion her question seemed to bring, Tayuya asked again.

"I said... Why the hell did you bring me here?"

This time the girl spoke up. She didn't have the cocky tone she seemed to flaunt before, but she answered quickly.

"Because I wanted to."

Now it was Tayuya's turn to look confused.

"She wanted to? What the fuck made her want to bring me here? Other than to get info outta me".

She thought long and hard about her next question before she asked it.

"What the hell made you want to bring me here? You could've left me to die out there."

Her expression was foul as she waited for the girl's answer, the sandy blonde looked down as if she was thinking about her response. It only took a moment before she turned back to look at the bedridden girl.

"Because, it wasn't part of my mission to kill anyone, only to assist the leaf."

Tayuya frowned again.

"The sand showing mercy? Give me a break. I bet I was the only one you guys didn't actually finish off, so you brought me here to tell you about the sound. Is that it?"

The girl fell silent, her brow furrowing as she tried to find an answer. Tayuya simply watched her, her expression still full of anger. She would strangle this girl if her arms weren't tied down. Eventually the girl looked up, staring her dead in the eye as she answered what would be Tayuya's final question.

"I brought you here... Because I didn't want you to die. Once my mission was over I made sure I got you here before it was too late because... I couldn't bring myself to let you go like that. I saved you because... you didn't deserve to die out there."

Tayuya's eyes were wide, her angry expression had disappeared during the answer and was now one of confusion and awe. She could have sworn she saw tears welling up in the girls eyes before she looked down again, hiding them behind her short bangs. Neither girl said a word for the next few minutes, the silence in the room only broken by the nurse poking her head in to say that visiting times were over. The girl nodded and stood up, lifting her giant fan and strapping it to her back before turning to the door. Once there she looked back and quietly spoke before leaving. With that, she closed the door and her footsteps faded slowly. Tayuya said nothing, she simply stared at the ceiling with eyes that looked like they were in a trance. She lay in her bed in silence, thinking over everything that had happened; everything that was said. After half an hour of silence, the room had darkened and she closed her eyes to sleep for the night. Her lips moving on their own into a faint smile that she couldn't keep herself from making as she quietly repeated the girl's last word to herself.

"Temari..."

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Hey, hope everyone is enjoying the story so far. ^_^

If you are, please don't hesitate to drop me a review, I really love to hear feedback on my works.

Stay tuned for chapter 3 in the next few days.


	4. Chapter 3: Beginning

Turning point: Chapter 3

:Beginning:

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"Dark... So dark... I can't see... Can't breathe... Someone... Please... Help..."

Crushing darkness. No air. Absolute silence.

"Please... Somebody... HELP ME!"

Tayuya woke with a scream to the feeling of her nurse shaking her, she was breathing heavily and sweating so much that her hospital gown was clinging to her body. Above her she could hear her heart monitor racing in time with her panicked chest. She looked around frantically as the nurse simply sighed in relief.

"Oh thank god, I thought we were going to lose you. With your injuries, getting so worked up could seriously endanger you."

Tayuya looked up at the woman, it was still dark so she couldn't see her very well, but she could at least tell the woman looked worried.

"What... What happened?" She asked, her breath catching in her throat as she gasped for air. The nurse went to check the monitor as she answered.

"It was just a nightmare." She leaned down to gently pat Tayuya's forehead with a soft towel. "Get some rest and we'll help you change out of those wet clothes in the morning."

With that, she picked up the small box she'd apparently left on the chair to tend to her patient and left the room. Tayuya was still trying to finish catching her breath as she stared up at the ceiling.

"What the fuck was that? That wasn't just a nightmare... It felt too real... Shit... It felt like I was dying." She sighed as she closed her eyes again, slowly drifting back to sleep.

"Well, well, well. You're a real heavy sleeper, y'know that?"

Tayuya's eyes fluttered open and looked over to the door, standing in the open doorway was Temari. She was wearing a different outfit today, a plain black dress with a red sash wrapped tightly around her waist. She seemed to have left her fan behind for her visit today. Tayuya shot her a dirty look.

"What're you doing here? Come back to mock me for losing to you?"

Temari looked at her in confusion for a few seconds before laughing out loud. Tayuya simply kept the annoyed expression while she waited for her answer. After taking a minute or two to stop laughing, Temari walked over and sat in her chair.

"Nah, I can wait till you're up and about to do that. I thought I'd just come and keep you company since you're not exactly going anywhere for a while."

She gave a cheeky grin to the redhead, who was still looking peeved. Tayuya scoffed and turned to look out the window watching a flock of birds fly over the building across the street. She could hear a group of kids outside playing and laughing. She closed her eyes as she lay her head back again.

Temari was watching her the whole time. Though Tayuya was trying to make it seem like she was ignoring the blonde annoyance, she was failing. After a few more minutes of silence, she finally looked back to her visitor.

"Look, what do you want from me? You already beat me and saved your 'precious' Sasuke."

She put a lot of sarcastic emphasis on precious, adamant to at least try and annoy Temari back.

"You don't have any reason to keep me around anymore."

Temari suddenly looked more serious, as though she'd just been told the worst of news.

"Actually, we didn't. That Sasuke kid apparently up and left, despite everyone trying to get him back."

Tayuya would've laughed in her face if she didn't realize what this meant.

"Oh, I get it now. You didn't get him back so you're gonna get what info you can get from me about the sound before you kill me for real. That's why you brought me here alive.".

Temari rose from her seat with a scowl on her face and was about to retaliate, which caused Tayuya to widen her eyes in surprise. The blonde's action was silenced however. by the sound of knocking behind her. A pair of nurses, one with clean clothes and both with awkward expressions; stood by the door. The nurse holding the clothes moved closer as Temari sat back down with her arms folded.

"Excuse me miss, but we've come to help you change." The first nurse laid the clean clothes at the foot of the bed while the other carefully unstrapped Tayuya's arms. Once she was free, the pair carefully lifted her up and helped her to her feet. Thanks to the healing process, she was able to at least stand.

Temari made the effort to turn her head away as the nurses pulled the curtains closed around the bed and shut the door, once ready, the woman who had brought the new gown carefully peeled Tayuya's soaked one from her body. The girl winced as she lifted her arms to let the garment over her head. Under the gown, she was wrapped in bandages; around her midsection, her thighs and her waist. Her pale skin still damp with cold sweat, the nurse gently wiped her down with the towel while the second nurse prepared some clean bandages. Once the first was done drying and they removed the old dressing, the pair took great care in wrapping the new, clean bandages around her body. Temari could hear Tayuya hissing in pain a few times as the nurses apologized. Once she was clean, the nurses checked her over once more and gently dressed her in the new gown. When done, they changed her bedding and helped her back into bed. Temari nodded to the pair as they left.

"Lady Hokage says that after one more treatment you should be strong enough to get up on your own, but until then you should stay in bed." The nurse said to her patient, receiving a nod in response before smiling and shutting the door.

Once alone together again, the two girls remained in silence for several minutes. Eventually Temari decided to speak up.

"I asked the Hokage to heal you. They are gonna question you, but they've agreed to let you go unharmed if you tell them everything they want to know."

She was expecting some sort of angry or sarcastic response to this, but to her surprise Tayuya simply sighed and looked up at the ceiling.

"If I talk, I live huh? That's all well and good, except it doesn't help. The leaf might not finish me off for talking, but the sound will hunt me down like a dog for selling them out."

She turned to Temari, looking almost defeated with her dull eyes meeting the deep blue once more.

"How can you convince me to talk when I'll die either way?"

Temari thought long and hard about her answer, finally giving Tayuya that dumb grin she'd used before.

"Don't go back to the sound. Start over and stay here."

Tayuya looked at the girl like she was insane.

"Are you fucking nuts?! What the hell makes you think they'd ever let me stay here?"

Temari got up and stretched her arms up above her head, locking her fingers and letting out a long sigh of relief as she lowered them again. Placing her hands on her hips, she looked back at Tayuya with that same smirk.

"I'll get their Hokage to let you stay. I can talk them into giving you a place."

With that said, she quickly left the room before Tayuya could say anything. The red headed girl simply sighed and turned to look out the window, watching a crow clean it's wing.

"She's crazy. She thinks I can fit in here... Why is she trying so hard?"

Tayuya pictured Temari's face in her head before she left and couldn't help the gentle smile that crept slowly across her lips.

"That idiot..."

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Made a few edits after re-reading this chapter, nothing major just a couple of fixes ^^;


	5. Chapter 4: Home

Turning point: Chapter 4

:Home:

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Temari didn't return to the hospital the rest of the day, Tayuya wondered if she might have changed her mind and decided to leave her to the interrogation corps. She spent her afternoon flicking through a book from a small pile one of the nurses had brought in for her. She didn't know much of what was going on but it had something to do with a young ninja and his first mission, finding the love of a beautiful girl along the way.

After casually flipping through it's pages a few times, she eventually stopped on a scene where the ninja stood above his defeated opponent and gave a speech about how he admired the other's spirit. As far as Tayuya was concerned, it just looked cheesy. After an hour or two of idly reading, she set the book down on her bedside table which had been moved back next to her bed and decided to try and sleep for a while. She closed her eyes and let her body relax.

Her nap time was cut short however, by the sound of her door opening and the well endowed doctor from yesterday stepping in. Tayuya looked over as she approached the bed and checked over her body, the doctor then carefully pulled the bed covers away and placed her palms on the redhead's midsection. Being the first treatment she was awake for, Tayuya watched curiously as the doctor's hands glowed green with chakra. She could feel the effects as it happened. The painful spots in her abdomen faded away, her bruised limbs felt like new and it no longer hurt to move her legs. Once the treatment was over, the doctor pulled the covers back up and looked over her patient. Tayuya looked right back at her as the woman spoke.

"That was your last major treatment, can you sit up for me?"

She moved back a little as if not to get in the way as Tayuya slowly pulled her arms back to push her upper body off the mattress. After laying down for several days it was a slight struggle to lift herself, but she managed to bring herself to a sitting position with no pain and looked up at the doctor with a faint smile.

"Ahh yeah, this is much better. Thanks doc, I feel great."

The doctor gave her a smile back and nodded in response.

"That's good to hear, your recovery looks to be successful. You should be alright to leave tomorrow."

With that the doctor left and shut the door.

Tayuya stretched her arms above her head and sighed with relief as she let them drop again, now that she was sitting up she could see the street outside her window. It wasn't very busy but there were several people walking back and forth on their way to wherever they were going. She watched the people passing by for a few minutes before looking up to see one of the most beautiful sunsets she had ever seen. The sun was disappearing behind the mountain with what she assumed were the previous Hokage's faces carved into it. The orange sky made the buildings below give off a warm glow and as the sky grew darker the many lights of the leaf village started flicking on one by one. Tayuya couldn't help the smirk that curled her lips upward and her eyes darted all over the scene in front of her, for the first time since before she could remember she actually felt somewhat content.

"Who knows, maybe I can put up with this place after all".

The next morning Tayuya woke to the sounds of a pair of birds outside her window, she sat up in bed and yawned loudly as she got to stretch properly for the first time in days. She looked out her window to see the leaf village waking up at the same time, there were a bunch of kids running up the street and the stores in the area were opening up. A few of them had people sweeping the entrance before customers would start to arrive. Tayuya yawned again and scratched her head as she looked back at her room, everything was the same as last night with one exception. Perched upon her bedside table was a thin glass vase with a single red rose in it. Her curiosity getting the better of her, Tayuya leaned over and found a note under the vase. She tilted the flower slightly to slide the note out and unfolded it, the note had no name or message; just an address. She flipped it over to make sure she wasn't missing anything but there was nothing to miss, she simply shrugged and put the note back on her table before sliding out of bed and stretching again.

It felt good to be up and about again after so much time on her back and after making a quick visit to the bathroom across the hall, Tayuya decided to take a walk. With no one outside her door she set off to look around. Thirty minutes later she returned to her room with a good idea of the building, she did a few stretches in the middle of her floor before slipping into the bathroom again to take a shower. Once she was finished she returned to her room again holding a towel around herself and found her clothes in the drawer of her bedside table. She laid her clothes out on the bed and shut her curtains.

Tayuya looked at her outfit. They were the clothes that Orochimaru had given her when she was brought to the sound village, they bore the purple rope around the waist that all his underlings wore with the exception of his number one. Tayuya stared down at the outfit for a few moments before she dropped her towel and dressed herself, she pulled her old clothes on and brushed her hair from her eyes before taking the note on the table and leaving her room. Behind her she left two objects, a red rose and a large purple rope.


	6. Chapter 5: Kindness

Turning point: Chapter 5

:Kindness:

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Tayuya held her arm over her eyes, the morning sun bearing down on her as she stepped outside. She'd gone through a long and boring process on her way out and had filled out at least twenty different forms, but with it all done she was able to take a proper walk on her own. She rubbed her eyes a little as they adjusted from being indoors for several days to being out in the sun again, even though her room had been fairly bright it was much different outside. she looked around at the street she'd been looking over from her window and decided to take a stroll through what seemed to be the already fairly busy market district. As she walked, Tayuya noticed that she was getting an annoying amount of strange looks from people. Whether it was because of her unusual outfit or if they knew she was from the sound she didn't know, but it was starting to get on her nerves. She was about to turn and yell at one of them when she was prematurely silenced by a tug on her clothes, looking down revealed it to be a small boy; looking only around five and sniffling close to tears. He tugged again to try and get a response and was rewarded by a poke on the forehead from the irritated redhead.

"What is it kid? You want something from me?"

She spoke with no real regard to sympathy as he looked up at her with teary eyes.

"M-miss? My.. mommy is gone... I can't find her".

Tayuya looked around at the people staring who quickly went back to what they were doing before she replied.

"Well I'm not your mom kid, what do you want me to do? You want me to pull her out of nowhere?"

The boy looked up at her as if he thought she was being serious which caused her to let out an exasperated sigh.

"You want me to help you look for her don't you."

She looked down at the boy who nodded and with another sigh she took his hand and started off down the street.

For the first few minutes Tayuya was relying on the boy to recognize his mother and point her out, but after a half hour of aimlessly wandering around and receiving more strange looks she finally lost her patience and stopped to kneel down next to the boy.

"Ok, I need you to stop sniveling for a minute and tell me what she looks like."

She wasn't making any effort to hide her frustration as she frowned at him, eventually he spoke up.

"She's tall and has black hair and green eyes and wears a blue dress and-"

Tayuya cut him off with her finger on his lips before standing up again. She looked around briefly for anyone matching that description, when it was clear the woman wasn't around here she decided to go with plan B. Grabbing the boy by his waist she jumped up to the rooftops to get a better view, no sooner had she stopped moving she found herself instantly surrounded by Anbu. The village's secret operations force and extremely high class ninja all brandishing weapons in her direction.

Tayuya found herself almost stumbling back in surprise at this aggressive move and tried to keep an eye on all of them so not to be caught off guard.

"What the hell is this? What's going on?"

She asked angrily, the Anbu seemed expressionless with their white masks on and simply held their position. One of them straightened up a little and spoke.

"You just got discharged from our village's hospital and already you're trying to abduct a child? You must be out of your mind."

Finally Tayuya understood the situation and frowned again.

"Abduct? Think again asshole, I'm trying to help him find his mom. Even I wouldn't stoop so low to take someone's kid."

The boy had been clinging to her leg the whole time as the Anbu looked at each other, the speaker motioned with his hand and the others nodded and withdrew, disappearing into seemingly thin air. The remaining Anbu then took a step forward and knelt down, holding out his hand to the boy.

"I'll get him back to his parents, you need to head to the Hokage's office. Lady Tsunade wanted to speak with you as soon as you got out."

Tayuya looked down at the boy who looked back up at her, she gave him a nod as well as a little nudge on his back. The boy nodded back and reluctantly let go of her to take the Anbu's hand, with that both of them disappeared in a flash and Tayuya was left alone on the rooftop. Turning her head towards the largest building in the village, a huge red mansion with the symbol for 'fire' on the front, Tayuya thought to herself.

"Well, if they've got the Anbu watching me then I should probably be a little more careful. I don't wanna get myself killed over something dumb."

With that she jumped from rooftop to rooftop, heading for the Hokage's mansion.

Less than two minutes after arriving she was sent to meet with the Hokage, the last time she'd been here the Hokage had been a decrepit old man that Orochimaru inevitably killed. Wondering what kind of ninja they'd got to replace him she knocked on the door to the office.

"Enter."

A woman's voice, a familiar voice that she couldn't quite place. Tayuya turned the handle and opened the door. The light from the large windows on the opposite side of the room illuminated it well, the room was relatively tidy but cluttered with papers at the same time, several sets of drawers, bookshelves and filing cabinets lined the walls either side of the main focus of the room; the Hokage's desk. Covered in piles of papers and files, the desk made it look like the Hokage was very busy. And sat right behind it was the busty doctor, her hands together in front of her mouth with her elbows resting on the desk. Her assistant, a frail looking woman with short black hair and a black kimono carrying a small pig in a red jacket; stood beside the desk and simply watched Tayuya as she stepped inside.

"I've been expecting you, you're looking much better than yesterday."

The Hokage gave a small smile as she spoke, keeping a friendly tone but still having her air of authority on her words.

"Temari stopped by and told us you'd be willing to share intelligence on the sound village in exchange for safety and a place to live."

Tayuya was a little taken aback but didn't show it much.

"Bitch, she made the choice for me then. I'll have to get her back for this."

As irritated as she was she answered calmly.

"Yeah, I know that I can't go back to the sound even if I wanted to. So I'd appreciate if you could find some place for me to stay."

The Hokage nodded and pulled a sheet of paper from the pile on the right of her desk, writing a few things on it before going through Tayuya's personal details with her. After a slight questioning of her personality and skills, the Hokage finally handed Tayuya her own shinobi ID form and told her to bring it back with her when she had a photo for it.

The next three hours were spent with Tayuya's interrogation on the sound village, not wanting to pointlessly get herself into any more trouble she simply told them everything she knew and the interrogation team kept non-hostile. When they eventually let her go and she walked outside again it was already afternoon, she walked for a while until she made it back outside the Hokage's mansion and stared up at it.

"Look mommy, there she is!"

Tayuya turned her head to see the boy from earlier and his mother, exactly as he described her except she was wearing a green dress. She couldn't help but roll her eyes as they approached, the woman smiled as they reached her.

"Maki tells me you tried to help him find me earlier, I lost him in the crowd I'm afraid. Such a little adventurer."

She smiled down at her son who grinned back up at her, before pulling a small pouch from her bag.

"Here, it's not much but I want to thank you for taking care of him."

Tayuya looked at her like she was crazy for a moment, before shaking her head.

"Nah, it's alright. I didn't really do anything, those Anbu were the ones who brought him back to you right?"

The woman nodded, keeping the same friendly smile.

"Yes, but Maki said that he didn't feel scared while he was with you. He doesn't do very well on his own, but he told me that you were very kind to him."

Tayuya's eyes widened slightly at this and she struggled to find any words to say that wouldn't make her look stupid, figuring it would be easier to simply accept this kindness; she carefully took the pouch and looked inside. There had to be at least 1000 Ryo in it, before she could say anything else Maki lunged at her with a hug to which she responded by awkwardly patting his head. The boy smiled up at her and hopped back over to his mother who thanked Tayuya again and set off with her son down the street they had come from.

Spending some of the money she had received from the woman, Tayuya bought herself some food and a cool drink. It was no suna heat but it was still a very hot day, she poured some of her water over her head in attempt to cool herself down and sighed in relief. She ate her small meal on the way back towards the mansion to have her photo taken, her long red hair drying quickly in the heat and leaving her with something of an untamed style by the time she got back there. She took a few minutes to fix herself before entering the photographer's room, even without the make-up that the other girls her age wore she was still a very good looking girl and her picture caught that side of her. Though she did give the best 'bad girl' smirk she could muster. Once done in the photography room, Tayuya pasted her picture on her form; signed it and took it back up to the Hokage's office to finish the process.

Knocking on the door, she waited a few seconds for a response.

"Enter."

Pushing the door open she stepped inside. This time as she was entering however, another ninja moved towards the door past her. The two glanced at each other as they passed and both their eyes widened, the boy passing her was the same pain in the ass that she'd fought back in the forest. As he turned from the door to confirm it was really her, Tayuya kicked the door with her foot and slammed it in his face. She couldn't help but snicker quietly and continued to hand her form to the Hokage.

"Here's the finished form you wanted."

She said as she stood idly while the busty woman read over everything to check it was all filled in correctly, after a minute or two she opened a drawer behind her desk and stood up as she pulled something out. Walking around the desk to stand next to Tayuya she asked her to hold out her hands, she then placed a headband with the leaf insignia on its metal plate in the girl's palms.

"Congratulations Tayuya. As fifth Hokage Tsunade, I hereby pronounce you a shinobi of the hidden leaf."

Tayuya couldn't help but feel just a little bit of pride welling up in her chest as she was presented her headband and even shot the Hokage a smile too, with the formalities over she was dismissed to take the rest of the day easy and she left the building. As she was walking away from the mansion she heard Tsunade call out to her from her office window.

"Don't forget this!"

She shouted as Tayuya turned to catch a small metal object being tossed to her from up high.

Tayuya looked down at the key Tsunade had given her, checking the note from her hospital room she asked around for the location of the address on it until she found it nearly an hour later. It was a simple looking house on the edge of the village, not particularly elaborate but not too shabby either. Making her way up to the door she carefully unlocked it and stepped inside, it was getting close to evening now so she switched the lights on after shutting the door behind herself. The interior was pretty simple, all the furnishings and utilities were basic but did their jobs and she had everything she needed. Tayuya walked around the empty house to get herself used to it's layout, eventually returning to the kitchen downstairs. As she poured herself a glass of water she noticed something on the table in the next room. She walked slowly through and found a glass vase with a single red rose, the same as the one left in her hospital room. Next to it was a long, rectangular box with a note under it. Tayuya picked the box up curiously and read the note which simply read.

"Forgive me but I had to make it up to you."

Raising an eyebrow slightly, Tayuya opened the box and looked inside. A smile more genuine than the one she gave back at the mansion crossed her lips as she removed the brand new metal flute from it's box, looking over it in her hands; the redhead decided she would ease up a little the next time she met a certain blonde girl.

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Whew, sorry about the delay on this one folks, travelling and stuff going on ^^;

I really hope people are enjoying this story, please don't hesitate to let me know what you think.


	7. Chapter 6: Acceptance

Turning point: Chapter 6

:Acceptance:

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The quiet of Tayuya's room was broken by a shriek of terror. The redhead jolted up in bed in a cold sweat, gripping her thin bed covers tight in her trembling hands as they clung to her bare skin. Due to only having one set of clothes, she had decided to keep them aside while she slept until she could get some more. Wearing only a pair of plain panties which were now soaked with sweat like her bedding. She looked around her room breathing heavily, it was very early morning and still somewhat dark but the sun was just starting to rise outside. Tayuya took a few minutes to calm herself and rubbed her eyes, sliding slowly out of bed and into the bathroom to stare at herself in the mirror. Almost flinching at the red-eyed, pale-faced, hot and sweaty girl looking back at her. She decided to take a long shower and wash her underwear later before getting dressed and making her breakfast, a simple bowl of cereal and tea to wake herself up.

Locking her door and letting loose a loud yawn, Tayuya stretched her arms out and looked around at the morning streets. It seemed that not many people were awake yet and even the shops in the area were still waiting to open, obviously too early to go to the Hokage's mansion and far too early to go clothes shopping. Beside the fact that she didn't have money to burn with what she was given yesterday. With another yawn and a stretch she started walking down the street, deciding to just walk and see where she would end up when she got there.

After around fifteen minutes of walking and casually nodding in greeting to a few people also emerging from their houses to go about their daily lives, Tayuya felt like she was actually starting to enjoy the calm atmosphere and friendly people of this village. Another ten minutes of walking and she looked around to find herself in what seemed to be an open field with a metal fence around it and a small lake at one side, at one end of the field there was a trio of thick logs standing up straight from the ground and behind that through the thick shrubbery was a large pointed stone in the middle of a stone circle.

Tayuya walked around this field a little and looked around to try and figure out what it was used for, a lot of the trees around here had holes in them and bark stripped off while the ground had large patches of missing grass and a few holes. Added to that an area with some straw dummies with targets on them and it became quite obvious that she's stumbled upon the leaf's training grounds. It was upon this realization that Tayuya's train of thought was quickly derailed with the sound of a battle cry behind her, she turned around and narrowly evaded an airborne kick to the face as the person passed her in a blur of green. Managing to keep her balance and only stumbling backwards a little bit, Tayuya readied herself for whatever the attacker might throw at her but found that the person standing just a few feet from her was simply facing her in stance. His left arm behind his back while his right was held out in front of him with his fingers pointed up and his bandage wrapped palm towards himself. He held himself straight upright and the only thing about him that looked stranger than his green bodysuit and orange leg-warmers was his rounder than normal eyes that glared at Tayuya from under his black bowl haircut.

The boy didn't attack again, he simply stared at her with angry eyes as she tried to work out what he was thinking. When he spoke suddenly she was surprised at his voice, it was high pitched but not in a feminine way.

"I am the Leaf village's handsome blue beast Rock Lee. And you are one of those Sound ninja. If you have come back to defeat us then you are at a great disadvantage on your own."

Tayuya widened her eyes as he spoke and held her hands out in front of herself as she shook her head.

"Woah woah, hold on a sec. I'm not with them anymore, I'm one of you guys now."

She said in retaliation, she didn't want to get into a fight on her first day as a leaf citizen; but she wasn't going to curl up and whimper for anyone either.

"I don't believe you!"

With that said Lee leaped forward and launched another kick towards his target. Tayuya would've tried to block his attack, if it hadn't been for the huge metal club that knocked Lee out of the air and flat on his face. Blinking once or twice in confusion, Tayuya lowered her arms from their guarding position and looked in the direction the club had come from.

"Cool it Lee! Quit jumping to conclusions like that."

The club belonged to a girl who looked to be roughly Tayuya's age, she wore what looked like a pink Chinese battle suit and her brown hair was tied tight into twin buns on her head. The girl sighed and tossed the club in the air where it disappeared in a puff of smoke before she stepped closer to Tayuya with her hand extended, she was smiling as she introduced herself.

"Sorry about that, he can get a little... Over-excited, y'know? My name's Tenten."

Tayuya hesitantly took her hand and shook it slowly, returning the courtesy with her own name.

With introductions out of the way and Lee now standing after his sudden halt, Tenten crossed her arms and frowned at him.

"Lee, don't you have something to say to her?"

Her frown returned to her face while he looked pleadingly at her.

"But Tenten, you do not understand. She was one of the ones with the sound village who took Sas-"

He was cut off by Tenten's foot in his face, causing Tayuya to flinch in surprise.

"You mean on the mission you didn't tell me you were going on? The one I could've easily helped with?!"

Tenten shouted at Lee who was now on his back around 10 feet away, she then turned back to Tayuya again the same smile she had before.

"You have a headband right? For your village?"

Tayuya still had a somewhat shocked look on her face as she nodded and pulled the leaf headband she'd received yesterday. Tenten nodded and held up Tayuya's arm with the headband in her hand.

"See Lee! Looks like she's on our side to me."

Lee looked over and tilted his head in confusion.

"But... I was sure that-"

His sentence was again cut off by a flying kick from Tenten, unsure of when she had moved that distance Tayuya simply watched as the girl beat Lee into a pulp.

"First you don't take me on the mission, now you're saying my eyes are wrong?!"

Deciding to leave the two to whatever argument they seemed to be having, Tayuya left the training field. If those two were comrades then they didn't show it much as far as Tayuya was concerned, then again her old team was never very close either. Looking up at the sky showed that it was starting to get into a more reasonable time of morning, Tayuya gave a little smirk at the thought that Lee was getting his ass kicked by a girl and with a small spring in her step she headed off for the Hokage's mansion.


	8. Chapter 7: Mission

Turning point: Chapter 7

:Mission:

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Tayuya stepped up to Tsunade's office door and raised her hand, holding it in place just inches away from it's target as she stopped to consider what might happen today. She hadn't been specifically told to come here in the morning but she figured it was the only thing to do on her first day, after a few more moments of thought she finally knocked on the door. The sounds of shuffling papers and something wooden falling to the floor came from the other side, until eventually she was told to enter. Tayuya pushed the door open and slipped inside quickly, taking a quick look around she could see that the papers on Tsunade's desk had been very hastily cleared up and dropped into a tray. Behind the desk the Hokage herself looked over at her guest with sleep deprived eyes and slightly displaced hair, as well as what looked like writing on her cheek.

"Ah, you're here early. I apologize for not being ready yet but I've been finalizing your admittance to the village and organizing things so you can take missions for us."

Tsunade started flipping through her papers, looking for whatever files she had been working on for Tayuya.

Half an hour after entering the room, Tayuya was given her first assignment for the leaf village. She ran it through her head a few times as she left the building despite it being such a simple task, all she had to do was go and catch a cat that had escaped it's owner and was now running around the village somewhere. She'd been given a brief description to go by so it wouldn't be too difficult to distinguish.

"Let's see... Tora. Brown fur, lighter stripes and a red ribbon on the right ear... Heh, should be a breeze"

She then began her search for the missing cat. Tayuya spent the next few hours checking alleys, running across rooftops and up trees looking for any sign of the cat she needed. She'd had a few false alarms with wrong cats and one even tried to attack her, but soon discovered it couldn't touch her. Five hours after starting her mission Tayuya decided to take a break for lunch, she wandered over to the nearest dumpling shop and made her order. After a short wait her food was brought out to her by a cheery young lady whose bright face even got the almost always sour-faced redhead to smile a little as she paid, as she sat on the bench outside with her lunch she let her eyes drift around the area. This part of town wasn't as busy as some of the other areas she'd wandered through today, but everyone still looked as carefree and happy looking as everywhere else in the village.

Tayuya finished her food and stood up, leaving her plate on the bench as everyone else was doing and stretching her arms up above her head. Her search was about to continue as she stepped back into the street, when it was brought to an abrupt halt by a flash of pink and a bump on the head. The impact knocking Tayuya onto her back and winding her with the sudden impact. Tayuya stared at the sky for a few moments and let out a groan as she brought her hand to her forehead, judging by the similar groan coming from the spot nearby; whoever hit her was in the same position right now. A minute later Tayuya managed to force herself to a sitting position and looked over at the other person, another girl. She looked somewhat shorter than the redhead and wore a red Chinese style dress with a white ring near the bottom at the front. She seemed to be wearing black bike shorts underneath that stopped just above her knees and her headband wasn't on her forehead, but instead being used to keep her shoulder length pink hair out of her face. The girl rubbed her forehead as she too rose to sit in front of Tayuya and look over at her, a moment after meeting eyes the girl suddenly became flustered and jumped to her feet to offer a hand to help her up.

"Ah, I'm so sorry. I wasn't looking where I was going, I'm running late and Lady Tsunade will be mad if I miss her first lesson."

The girl helped Tayuya to her feet and turned the hand up into a hand shake.

"I'm Sakura, I'm really sorry about that. Are you ok?"

She leaned in to take a look at Tayuya's head while her 'victim' simply stood still and looked at her awkwardly.

It took at least a minute or two before Tayuya decided to speak up.

"Hey... I thought you said you were in a hurry."

She said as Sakura's eyes widened in panic and she looked up as if trying to determine the time by the sun.

"Ah! Damn it, sorry I gotta run. Your head looks okay, just put ice on it or something to bring the bump down!"

Her last few words got quieter as Sakura ran off down the road towards the Hokage's mansion. Tayuya took a few moments to dust herself down while she registered everything that'd just happened, she remembered that she used to be as energetic and naive as Sakura just was when she was young. She had to grow up fast after being taken in by Orochimaru and the years in the sound village had made her pretty self centered and easily irritated, something like Sakura running into her would have caused her to explode into a blind rage before. But since she arrived in the leaf village she had been feeling calmer and more interested in the goings on around her. It took Tayuya a moment to realize that since Sakura had left she had been standing in the middle of the street looking lost and a few people were now staring at her, so she quickly finished patting herself down and strode off in the opposite direction to continue her mission.

Not having to worry too much about getting lost since she could almost always see the Hokage's mansion from the rooftops and finding her way back from there was easy, Tayuya continued her search for the lost cat Tora. Two hours later and she still hadn't managed to find anything, it was starting to get dark now and she was beginning to get frustrated. So deciding to try and be a little more tactical, she took to the rooftops again and jumped to the highest point she could find to take a look around.

Almost as if it had been waiting for the moment, Tayuya heard the unmistakable screech of an angry cat and span around to find the source. In a darkened alley a few streets over she could see a group of men walking cautiously towards a dead end, they looked like they had something cornered and by the sounds of it they were closing in on a very loud feline.

"Oh this had better be it."

Tayuya thought to herself as she jumped over to the next roof and then down to street level at the entrance to the alley, there she could just see the cat behind the men and gave a little grin.

"Red ribbon on the right ear, finally."

With that she started walking towards the cat's pursuers.

"Hey! Didn't anybody ever teach you guys to pick on someone your own size?"

Tayuya spoke up without even thinking about it, her mind set on her goal she never even thought about sneaking up on the trio. The men turned their heads to face her looking rather annoyed that they'd been caught. Once they turned their attention from it, Tora bolted up the wall at the dead end and climbed over it. One of the men noticed this and quickly turned back.

"Agh! The cat!"

He shouted as he tried to get his accomplices' attention, even Tayuya was too late to react and frowned as the cat escaped.

"Goddammit, you better not go too far."

The middle man just smiled as he straightened up to face the girl at the end of the alley, his dry, pale lips parting enough to show his very unclean teeth.

"Who cares about the cat, a human hostage will turn out better for us. And we even have a volunteer."

His grin grew wider as he spoke and the other two smiled just as wide as they realized what he meant, Tayuya simply gave the group a cocky smirk back and dove into her pouch to pull out her flute. The men noticed her quick movement and ran at her together, thankfully her previous training meant that she'd be using her technique before they ever reached her. She took a breath in and closed her eyes as she placed her lips to the mouthpiece, what came out was a short and higher pitched note that one would expect from a rookie. Tayuya's eyes snapped open as she immediately realized the problem, she was still short of breath after being hit by Sakura.

Her overconfidence had now become dangerous as she had left it too late to react properly, she took the full force of the middle man's fist into her stomach which lifted her feet a few inches from the ground. Her mouth hung open as the rest of the wind was knocked out of her, her flute dropped to the ground as the impact forced her to grasp at her sides. Covering her stomach with her arms, she dropped to her knees gasping for air. The group of men smiled sickly down at her as she sat helplessly on the floor, unable to do anything to stop them.

"Hoo boy, this one's got some fight in her. She'll be pretty entertaining while we wait to make the ransom."

The middle man hooked his grubby finger under Tayuya's chin and lifted her head to look at him. Her face twisting with rage while the other two simply laughed behind him as he seemed to check her over like a buyer would check a horse, making sure the goods were undamaged. Tayuya could do little more than continue to hold her stomach and wheeze uncontrollably, her pride now lay shattered on the ground before her as she had no choice but to accept the humiliating defeat she had just been given. As the man let her head drop and stood up to talk to his allies Tayuya simply stared at the floor, her hair cascaded over her shoulders and hung around her head as she thought about what would come next.

One day, that's all the time she'd been allowed to spend on this new life before it had been taken away from her again. She closed her eyes tight and bit her lip as she tried desperately to keep her tears from escaping. Seconds later she could hold it back no more. She sobbed pathetically at the ground, her tears pattering on the stone as she lowered her head even more. The men heard her crying and turned back with their disgusting grins.

"Look at that, all that spunk before and she's crying like a little girl after one hit."

The trio laughed again as the middle man knelt in front of her once more and grabbed her head, gripping her hair from the back to force her to look him in the eyes.

"Well get used to it girly. With your attitude you'll be getting a lot more than that from now on."

He looked back at his partners and laughed out loud again as Tayuya's mind raced. She'd been abused before when she was young, beaten by her parents until her legs were strong enough to take her far away from them. The memories flowed back into her head one after another, even life in the sound was riddled with murderers and psychos that she had to constantly avoid. These thugs were going to be far worse though, they knew what they wanted and they were going to do anything they liked with her. She wouldn't be able to stop them, not like this.

With that thought Tayuya's eyes snapped open and glowed a dangerous yellow, her curse mark on the back of her neck burned her body as its black zig-zag pattern covered her skin. The man who had been laughing too hard to notice; realized too late when the horns burst out from her head and she lunged forward, stabbing them into his eyes. The man keeled over and screamed in pain. holding his hands over his bleeding sockets as Tayuya gained strength from the curse mark and stood. Her hair grew darker and flowed down around her chest while her skin seemed to burn a dark brown. Her eyes trained their fiery yellow gaze on the remaining two men as tears still streamed down her face. She grit her teeth and clenched her fists as the terrified men fell backwards over themselves to get away, seemingly forgetting the alley was a dead end.

Tayuya started walking forwards, dead set on the men in front of her. As she passed the now blinded man; she stomped on his right knee with enough force to shatter it, earning another cry of agony from him as he rolled helplessly on the floor. She continued to walk steadily towards the remaining pair, until she was stopped in her tracks by a kunai stabbing into the ground in front of her. She looked back to see an Anbu ninja perched on the roof nearby, with several more kunai ready. As she turned to face him, several more appeared around her; surrounding her completely along with one of the leaf's legends. A tall, pale skinned man with spiked white hair, a mask covering his face up to his nose and his headband tilted to cover his left eye. Even lower ranked members of the sound knew of the copy ninja Kakashi Hatake.

Still lost in rage Tayuya tensed her arm and clenched her fist to ready herself for a move that she wouldn't get the chance to make, as Kakashi moved with almost inhuman speed and glared into her eyes with his left eye exposed. The red iris and three tomoe pattern surrounding the pupil, this was the Sharingan that Orochimaru had talked about so often. It seemed to spin as he focused it on her gaze and after a moment Tayuya could feel the effects taking her over, her eyes drooped and her strength left her body as his Genjutsu sent her into a deep sleep.


	9. Chapter 8: Repent

Turning point: Chapter 8

:Repent:

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Beep... Beep... Beep...

That familiar sound echoed through Tayuya's head as her eyes slowly opened, her vision was blurred but she knew this location well. She didn't need to see properly to tell she was back in the hospital room she'd woken up in on that first day, she wasn't unable to move around this time though so she took the opportunity to sit up. An action she immediately regretted. The movement caused her head to spin and her stomach to turn, she quickly found the bedpan on her nearby table and vomited until her throat was sore.

Tayuya eventually brushed her hair back behind her ears, placed the used bedpan on the floor and lay back down as carefully as she could. She stared at the ceiling wondering how she'd ended up back in the hospital, the last thing she remembered was her fight in the alley which nearly got her abducted and then blinding pain and darkness. It was at that point the back of her neck stung as if it were burning, she hissed in pain as her hand flung itself up to cup over the spot. She was about to voice her thoughts of confusion to no-one, when she caught a glimpse of movement in her window. Turning her head a little too fast caused her to feel dizzy again but she was able to will herself through it to frown at the man sitting on her window ledge.

"It's a seal."

The copy ninja Kakashi stated without the need for a question.

"We sealed your curse mark for you since you don't seem to have as much control as we thought you did."

His blunt explanation and nonchalant tone was irritating but Tayuya didn't let it get to her too much.

"What do you mean you sealed it?" She snapped back. "You can't just seal a curse mark away, it's too strong for that."

She frowned at Kakashi who had pulled out a book and started reading, 'Make out paradise' Tayuya had never heard of it but the adults only warning on the cover said enough.

There was a good five minutes of silence before Tayuya spoke up again.

"Well? You wanna explain it to me? It's not something you can just do even if you are a Jonin."

She said it in a way that was almost mocking him for thinking he could do the impossible.

"You're right."

Kakashi suddenly replied which made Tayuya raise an eyebrow slightly.

"You can't completely seal a curse mark away, but you can help to suppress it."

He pointed at her as he spoke.

"This seal is based solely on your willpower to not use the curse mark. If you don't want it to stop it then it won't do much for you. But if you don't try to rely on the curse mark and want to keep it in check, the seal will be much stronger."

He gave her a strangely unnerving smile as he finished his explanation. Tayuya looked away and stopped to think for a moment, she gently touched the spot on her neck before turning back to ask Kakashi a question. Without her noticing he had vanished from his perch and only the gentle breeze from outside came from the open window, it gently brushed Tayuya's hair over her face and she sighed as she brought her hand up to push it back with her fingers.

By the late afternoon the nurse walked into Tayuya's room and checked her over, after getting her to perform a few tasks like simply standing and walking the nurse told her that she was well enough to go home. Still feeling a little queasy as she walked back, Tayuya decided to play it safe and take the short way home but walk as slow and steady as she could. She could still feel the slight burning sensation on the back of her neck which occasionally made her wince, getting looks from the people around her every time she stopped.

Eventually she made it to the last corner before her new house, by then she was feeling close to throwing up again and just wanted to make it inside so she could sleep the rest of the day off. After fumbling around clumsily with her key and using a somewhat embarrassing amount of concentration to get it into the lock, she finally pushed the door open and stepped inside. Kicking off her shoes at the entrance and closing the door behind her the pitiful looking girl walked through her empty house and headed shakily upstairs to the bathroom.

After splashing water on her face which seemed to slightly help with the sick feeling, Tayuya decided a bath might help her to relax. Dropping her clothes on the bathroom floor and sliding into the tub, she ran the water to fill up around her so she could lay back and rest. Staring at the ceiling seemed to calm her as the water rose past her waist and thighs, steam slowly filling the room while her eyelids started to feel heavy. She thought about the last few days and sighed. She'd spent two days in hospital, one day out in the village and then after going berserk another day in hospital. If she were anyone else she would've just been seen as really unlucky. Tayuya thought differently though. She knew that something was wrong and it wasn't just dumb luck, or rather un-luck, that kept landing her in hospital. She rested her head back on the side of the tub and turned the water off with her toes now that it covered her chest, her long red hair splayed out on the side of the tub and hung down while she continued to stare blankly at the ceiling.

"I guess you could call it karma... Or something like that." She thought to herself. "You do as much bad shit as we did for the sound and you're bound to end up with a few near death experiences I guess."

As much as she hated to admit it, she sighed as she realized that the only way she was going to get herself out of this vicious cycle was to try to do some good for once. An hour passed with her doing nothing but soak in the now warm water and her fingertips were starting to wrinkle, against her will she knew it was time to get up and dry off. Feeling much better than she did before, Tayuya pulled herself out of the tub and drained the water before grabbing a nearby towel and wrapping her hair up in it. She then wrapped a second, larger towel around her body and exited the bathroom with a slight slump in her posture. Despite not feeling sick or in pain anymore she was exhausted from the amount of effort it took her to do everything once she was on her own again, so without making time to properly dry off she simply let herself fall onto her bed and was sound asleep in seconds.


	10. Chapter 9: Contact

Turning point: Chapter 9

:Contact:

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The morning sun beamed into the silent room through the window on the far wall, the thin, white curtains hung over the glass; floated gently on the breeze that made its way through the open frame and into the quiet sanctity of the house. The sounds from outside were also starting to invade, the chirping of the birds in the tree in the street nearby and the stream just beyond the wall of the leaf's boundary. It seemed having a home on the very edge of the village had its advantages, primarily being out of the way of the hustle and bustle of the village center. Her eyes opening slowly and being shielded by her arm from the rays of sunlight aimed at her face, Tayuya awoke from her surprisingly pleasant night's slumber and groaned as she felt the warmth from her wake-up call washing over her skin; almost egging her to start her day.

Letting her arm drop to the side; the half awake teen squinted her eyes, only to widen them again as she noticed that her face still appeared to be in shade. Glancing over at the window revealed a hand blocking out the light over her eyes, silhouetted against the sun and attached to the arm of a figure that sat in the window frame; back against the side with one leg arched over the other which lay flat against the windowsill.

The realization that she was being watched hit her hard and fast, Tayuya rolled as quickly as she could off the bed and stood to face the person in her room in a defensive stance with one arm held close to her chest and the other holding a fist towards the intruder. All her actions granted her was a chuckle from the person who now lowered their arm to their side.

"You really are a heavy sleeper, it's not good to be so easy to sneak up on y'know."

That condescending tone along with the familiar taunt, It could only be one person.

"Fuck Temari, you could've given me a little warning for something like this. Why are you sneaking into my room while I sleep anyway? Keeping tabs on me like the rest of the leaf?"

The sand shinobi slid off the windowsill and stepped closer, the light breaking nicely around her as she walked to the opposite side of the bed. From here Tayuya could make out the stupid grin she was wearing on her face and was about ready to leap over to give her a taste of her bad temper when Temari spoke up.

"You can relax, I'm just here to make sure you're settling in alright."

Her eyes drifted down to the redhead's form, which now stood with her hand on her hip in a defiant posture.

"Seems like you're already pretty comfortable here."

Giving a strange look to the girl in her room; Tayuya glanced down at herself, her eyes opened wide as she looked over her completely naked body and then to the bed where the towel she had been wearing last night lay crumpled up on the sheets. Her hands instinctively throwing themselves over her body to cover herself, Tayuya quickly turned her back to the blonde who simply started laughing while she crouched to further obstruct the view.

"What the fuck?! Did you fucking undress me?!"

Temari held her own hand to her hip; which stuck out to accommodate the sassy look she was now giving.

"Oh come on, I may be a tease but I'm not gonna assault a sleeping girl. You may not believe it but we do have standards in the sand."

Tayuya shot her a dirty look over her shoulder, gritting her teeth as she held out her hand.

"Whatever, just throw me the towel and look away."

Seeing another opportunity to play with the girl, Temari picked the towel up and held it to her side.

"Oh? You don't want to come and get it yourself?"

The fire sparked in the naked redhead's eyes.

"Just throw me the goddamned towel bitch!"

This was the time to really get her target to react, the sandy blonde's lips pulled up into a smirk and her eyes set themselves on the glare being shot at her.

"Make me."

Tayuya's whole body felt hot with anger, she had a foul temper to begin with but being taunted was the direct way to get her into the fighting spirit. Her toes curled against the wood floor as she tried to hold herself from attacking the girl, but her natural instinct overruled her reason and the flash of red before Temari's eyes was all she could catch before landing hard on the floor behind her. Looking up at the enraged face of the fiery redhead she was teasing, the suna girl found herself pinned to the hard wood by the body now sitting on top of her. Tayuya had managed to force her target to the ground and now straddled her waist, her arms holding Temari's above her head with a grip that caused the blonde to wince as she tightened it around her wrists.

Struggling slightly against the hold of her captor, Temari looked up at the eyes that were focused on her own. Tayuya's hair hung from her shoulders and created what felt like a space of isolation between the two girls' faces, the blue eyes that were so full of confidence just a moment ago now showing the shock and fear of what had just happened.

"Look, Red. It was just a tease, you don't have to flip out over it." Temari's voice was somewhat shaken as she spoke. "Surely you're not that immature."

The vice-like grip clenching around her arms seemed to almost bring tears to her eyes as her breath caught in her throat, the body atop hers tensing up to the point it began to shake. It took just a moment, but the hands holding her down loosened and Tayuya slowly pulled herself off the blonde's form; standing up with her head hung down in a way so her hair obstructed her face. Temari stared up at the girl for a moment before she too pulled herself to her feet, patting her black dress as she stepped forwards.

SMACK!

The look of shock on Temari's face was accompanied by a stuttering silence as she looked over at the pained glare from the girl before her, the red hand print that quickly made itself visible on her cheek pulsing with pain while she tried to comprehend what hit her.

"What do you know?"

Tayuya's voice was low and cracking as she stared at the stunned blonde in front of her, her body starting to tense up once more as she grit her teeth and tears began to roll down her cheeks.

"What the fuck do you know about me?! Huh?!"

Temari couldn't help but say nothing, she had been totally unprepared for anything like this.

"You think just because you know how to get to me, that you instantly know who I am?! What I've been through?!"

Her hand balled into a fist, she was about ready to throw a punch at the other girl's face.

"Red... I-"

Tayuya cut her off before she could finish.

"Just leave... Before I do something I might regret..."

Unable to think up anything to say in response, Temari simply glanced down at the floor and nodded. Without another word she walked over to the window she'd entered from with her head hung and her face stinging. Placing one foot up on the windowsill she paused for a moment, turning her head just enough to see the redhead who was staring at the floor with dull eyes.

"I..."

Her words failing her, Temari simply sighed and leaped from the window.

Tayuya lifted her head to look at the sky outside her room, only a few clouds obstructed the deep blue on this bright and sunny day and the same gentle breeze brushed her hair against her face. Her chest tightening more and more, the lone girl simply let herself fall to her knees and lower her head to touch the floor where Temari had been standing. Her fist pounded hard against it before she let herself go and broke into tears, alone in her room and full of regret.


	11. Chapter 10: Calm

Turning point: Chapter 10

:Calm:

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Tayuya stepped slowly through the door to Tsunade's office. Since the incident that morning she had taken considerably longer than usual to get herself ready to go, though it had taken her even longer to get herself motivated to start. Upon entering the Hokage's room she was met with stares all around; some harsh, some confused. But the worst was the one person who avoided her gaze completely, Tayuya's chest felt tight as Temari merely glanced at her entering before she turned back to look out the window. There were three other people in the room besides the Hokage and her aide. The first was the same boy from before, his sleek, black hair tied into its usual topknot which spiked out in all directions. He was wearing the leaf's signature green flak vest with a grey t-shirt underneath, his dark brown pants only reached as far as his lower calves and his headband was pinned to his left sleeve in an awkward fashion. His was the harshest glare in the room, Tayuya could feel him judging her with his narrow eyes despite not looking at him properly.

The other two people appeared to be sand ninja like Temari, the tallest of the group looked to be wearing a full black bodysuit and matching hood which pointed up like cat ears on top and had the sand headband's metal plate sewn in at the front. It seemed to be an odd choice for one who lived in the desert but then again Tayuya had only really worn her sound outfit for the years she worked there, for all she knew it could be the most effective. The tall boy's face was odd, very pale and covered in purple face paint; a single thick line from his forehead to the tip of his nose, two lines forming rectangles around each eye and another line from his chin to his lips which were also painted purple. He seemed to be almost scowling at her as she stood there at the door, though he didn't say anything Tayuya knew he had something against her immediately.

For all the strange outfits and face paint, the third boy was by far the creepiest looking. He was shorter than even Temari with his short, red spiked hair and skin paler than the rest, did he ever go out in the sun? His eyes were cold, a pale blue-green with dark rings surrounding them as if he hadn't slept for years. The strangest feature though was his forehead, the kanji for "Love" tattooed on his skin above his left brow which almost took away from the fact that he had no eyebrows at all. His outfit looked a little more suited to the desert, it also seemed to be something of a bodysuit but was a dark brown and baggy at the sleeves. The bottom was tight around the ankles and the neck seemed to be tightly sealed off too, a white sash ran from his right shoulder to his left hip where it wrapped around his waist and hung at the front. From the left shouder to his right hip was a thick and very wide leather strap with his sand headband tied around the bottom quarter, attached to this strap was a large sandy colored gourd which was almost as big as the boy carrying it. His gaze was almost unreadable, he didn't seem to have anger in his eyes but nor were they content, he simply stared in silence at the redhead standing across the room.

It took Tsunade clearing her throat rather loudly to get everyone's attention to herself, clearly thrown off slightly by Tayuya's sudden appearance she decided to finish her meeting quickly to get to the issue she'd called the redhead in for that morning.

"Well then." She started. "I can't thank you enough for responding to our request for backup so promptly, I'm sure this is the first big step in rekindling the bonds between our nations."

The three sand ninja nodded in response and the short boy spoke up to answer.

"Thank you lady Hokage." His voice was deeper than one would expect from such a young looking boy, a mysterious tone that almost pulled his words into whispers. "Rest assured we are more than happy to ally ourselves to the leaf, we can only hope that our lands will once again trust in each other in the future."

He seemed wise beyond his years. Given some time, maybe a slight change to his dull tone, he could make a decent Kage Tayuya thought quietly to herself. Tsunade nodded back to the trio and gave them a smile.

"I won't keep you any longer, you're free to stay for a while but I wish you a safe journey home."

With that said the sand group bowed their heads respectfully and turned to the door, Tayuya stepped aside to let them pass but kept her head down as she felt the eyes watching her carefully. A quick, subtle glance saw Temari lightly touching her cheek where Tayuya had smacked her before, though she couldn't see it from this angle the redhead knew it was still visible and likely still stinging. The leaf boy looked like he was about ready to speak his mind when Tsunade spoke up again.

"Shikamaru, would you act as escort for our sand village visitors?"

The boy looked back at her quickly and bowed his head similarly to the three before.

"Of course lady Tsunade."

Without another word he simply left and closed the door behind him.

Tayuya stepped forward to stand before the Hokage's desk, taking the place of the group who had just been here. The last time she'd been here, though only a few days ago, had been a pleasant moment for her. This time the air was thick with awkward silence, she knew she was about to get chewed out. Taking a few moments to sort out and sign a few papers, Tsunade finally turned her powerful gaze upon the redhead stood before her.

"Do you know what you've done?"

The woman's tone was stern but quiet. Tayuya had never been told off like this before, but for some reason it only served to make her more nervous about what was to come.

"I..." She struggled to pinpoint what part of the fiasco would land her in the most trouble. "I... lost control..."

The buxom blonde's expression changed for a moment, she furrowed her brow and closed her eyes as she thought of how to talk about the event.

"Yes, you did." She said it bluntly, straight to the point with no real regards for tact. "Your outburst the other day not only cost you your mission but also endangered innocent lives."

Tayuya's stomach felt tight, she knew that losing her temper here would only make things worse but she couldn't take all the blame on herself.

"Look, I know I lost it. But if I hadn't done something I would've-"

"I know." Tsunade cut her off. The redhead blinked in surprise, unsure of what the woman meant by that.

"Did you forget I've had Anbu tracking you since you got here? They saw what happened and filed it in their report along with Kakashi's."

She seemed to be almost smiling as she continued.

"I have it from my most reliable sources that you attempted to resolve the matter with non-violent means and despite the fact that it failed, your actions still prevented a hostage situation before it took place."

Tayuya stared at the Hokage wordlessly, was this woman really praising her for nearly killing a man?

"However."

Damn...

"Due to your apparent lack of control over the curse mark Orochimaru has placed on you, I had no choice but to have it sealed and forbid you to use it while in leaf residency."

Glancing off to the side and touching that spot on the back of her neck, Tayuya simply nodded quietly.

It didn't take much longer for Tayuya to be allowed to leave the Hokage's mansion, she had been given a warning and the rest of the day off to finish recovering. She didn't feel like she needed it but was almost relieved to not be thrust right back into missions. Digging into her pocket she pulled out the purse of money and checked how much she was carrying, with only 500 ryo left she would have to start earning money for real soon. Looking up at the midday sun, Tayuya began her walk back towards her home.

The lone girl turned the last corner of her journey back, she wanted to get at least some food for meals before she got back so she decided to visit the small shop about a third of the way down the street that led to her house. Simply grabbing a few basic ingredients she knew she could work with, the redhead paid for her items and took a bag in each hand to continue her short walk back. What met her eyes as she drew near both confused her and made her extremely nervous as it clicked in her head, the front steps of her house were currently occupied by the trio of sand ninja from earlier. The boy in black sat impatiently on the steps themselves while the short boy stood with his arms folded against his chest and facing the street Tayuya was coming from, he had to have spotted her from this distance. Temari seemed to be talking with the boy in black until she too looked up with him to see the lone form of the girl they were obviously waiting for.

Standing up, the boy lifted a large object wrapped in bandages like a mummy and topped with what looked like scruffy, brown hair. Lifting it by one of the wraps onto his shoulder he stepped out into the street where he simply stood and faced his target, the red haired boy joined him slowly and stood to his side. Temari simply stayed where she was, she seemed to be still talking to the boys but got no reply from either of them. Tayuya knew this setup all too well, a standoff, this was going to either be a simple chat or a fight with no rules.


	12. Chapter 11: Kin

Turning point: Chapter 11

:Kin:

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Never one to back down from a challenge, Tayuya resumed her walk, she made her steady way towards her new home with an attempt to possibly ignore the boys that were blocking her way. For a moment it seemed like they were simply going to let her pass, she managed to make it past them with her head facing forwards and her eyes avoiding theirs. That was until she was stopped by a voice.

"Hey, don't think you can just pretend we're not here sunshine."

The taller boy spoke up, the pair of them turning together to face her again.

"I think you know why we're here."

"Kankuro, c'mon, you don't have to-"

"Enough Temari, you know full well that this is how we deal with these things."

Temari shot the boy a dirty look but lowered her head and went silent, Tayuya didn't really understand why she would suddenly start taking crap from anyone, but it definitely wasn't making her feel any better about any of this.

"So why ARE you here?" Tayuya responded without turning around, taking a moment to watch Temari's almost pained expression. "You gonna try and take my lunch money or something?"

Turning her head just enough to see Kankuro's face drop into a scowl, she gave an arrogant smirk. Much as she was trying to be a good girl, she had to admit that it felt good to act like a badass again.

"Don't fuck with me!" Kankuro snapped as he reached to grab the redhead's collar, pulling her towards himself, their faces meeting close up as she kept the taunting sneer on her face.

"You think you can just attack my sister after she risked her neck to save yours? Do you have any idea what I'm gonna do to you you mangy bitch?!"

Tayuya wasn't even tuned in enough to listen to Temari's pleas to her brother to stop, the realization that Temari really had risked everything to bring her back hit her into a brief moment of shock. It wasn't until Kankuro did let her go that she snapped back to reality, she stared almost blankly at the black-clad shinobi and watched him change his stance from closed and confrontational to open and taunting.

"Alright, since my dearest sister seems to think I should give you a chance, I think I will." He brought his face closer and looked Tayuya dead in the eyes. "Hit me. If you think you can hit her then hit me too, I'm ready whenever you-"

WHAM!

Kankuro reeled backwards and landed flat on his ass as Tayuya cut him off with a solid punch in the nose, a silent six seconds passed until she stood up straight, still holding up her fist.

"Oh I'm sorry, I thought you were ready."

The rage building in Kankuro's expression was instantly wiped for one of surprise when a loud and hearty cackle from behind the redhead caught everyone's attention. Temari had literally doubled over she was laughing so hard, the tough guy look firmly knocked off his face, Kankuro turned to the shorter boy as if asking for help.

"Gaara, are you gonna let her get away with that?"

The cold stare of the third sand sibling watched Tayuya for a moment, sending a slight chill up her spine, wondering if she'd have to defend herself against whatever he might have she changed her posture a little to better react.

"You were asking for it."

The calm and reserved response he gave caused even Tayuya to let out a snort of amusement, Kankuro's mouth hung open as all his options ran out in one fell swoop. Realizing there was no coming back from such an embarrassing setback he simply picked himself up and walked off to the side of the street to tend to his bleeding nose.

Tayuya looked down at her shopping bags which had been dropped in the dust when she'd been grabbed, the few pieces of fruit and vegetables that hadn't rolled out into the dirt were badly bruised and useless now. Cursing under her breath she knelt down to start salvaging what she could but was halted by Temari's face lowering to her level, a wide smile on her face and still chuckling in her throat.

"Look Red, I'm sorry about earlier." Tayuya gave her a look that was intended to be disinterest but just wound up looking bratty. "I know I overstepped the mark and I won't go back there if you're gonna slap me back behind it. Let's just go back to before, I'll make the witty comments and you give me the eye over them, yeah?"

As dumb as she was being, Tayuya couldn't help but think that the girl had a point. She was still pissed at Temari for poking the bear with a slab of meat, but not being able to be in the same room as her was annoyingly hard for her. She was after all the person who saved her life.

"Fine." She replied after purposely making it obvious she was thinking about it. "But you cut down on making me mad, or there's more than a sore face waiting for you."

Giving an oddly enthusiastic nod, Temari grinned like a kid who had just been given free candy. "Deal."

Tayuya couldn't stop the smirk that pulled at her lips with the blond's childish demeanor, looking back down to retrieve her shopping. Taking hold of her wrists without warning, Temari stopped her again.

"Let me make it up to you, let me buy you dinner tonight."

Chestnut eyes blinked rapidly as Tayuya did a double take, looking at the girl in disbelief.

"What? Dinner? How is that?-"

Temari simply stood up, pulling the redhead to her feet with a giggle one would expect from a younger girl.

"I'll come get you at seven, you don't have to dress up or anything, just make sure you're ready."

Without waiting for a reply the suna girl took off running and leaped to the rooftops, Gaara bowed his head shortly after and followed, a frantic Kankuro taking the rear of the movement as they simply left him behind.

Still watching the space where she'd last seen Temari, Tayuya stood alone in the middle of the street and tried to comprehend what she'd just been pulled into. The sudden realization of it all hitting her like a ton of bricks on her head.

"I don't even have dress clothes!"

Her words echoed in the empty street, nobody but herself to hear her delayed response.


End file.
